Areas of British Columbia with large reductions in violent crime
According to the BC government’s own compilation of crime data, some areas of the province have experienced massive reductions in violent crime.
Look at what happened to violent offences in Prince George during the past ten years. The population decreased by 2% – 1,552 people – during this period. But there was a 43% decrease in violent offences:
- 2006 2,734
- 2007 2,516
- 2008 1,902
- 2009 2,063
- 2010 2,275
- 2011 2,205
- 2012 2,192
- 2013 1,819
- 2014 1,584
- 2015 1,538
What is going on here? What is this RCMP detachment doing? What is the municipality doing? What is the community doing? It would be interesting to figure out is happening.
Here is Kelowna. Their population increased by 13%, 14,344 people, over the last decade. But they experienced a 55% decrease in violent crime:
- 2006 2,479
- 2007 2,313
- 2008 2,068
- 2009 2,126
- 2010 2,090
- 2011 1,942
- 2012 1,806
- 2013 1,835
- 2014 1,415
- 2015 1,097
Here is Nanaimo. Their population grew by 12%, or 9,755 people. But they experienced a 49% decrease in violent crime:
- 2006 2,225
- 2007 1,737
- 2008 1,632
- 2009 1,636
- 2010 1,693
- 2011 1,403
- 2012 1,429
- 2013 1,422
- 2014 1,127
- 2015 1,134
New Westminster has a municipal police department (as compared to an RCMP detachment). Their population increased by 18%, that’s 11,169 new residents. They experienced a 39% decrease in violent crime:
- 2006 1,437
- 2007 1,314
- 2008 1,204
- 2009 1,058
- 2010 1,122
- 2011 939
- 2012 1,014
- 2013 953
- 2014 874
- 2015 876
Vancouver, another municipal police department, experienced an 8% increase in population (49,569 more people). But violent offences in the city dropped by 27%:
- 2006 11,015
- 2007 10,769
- 2008 10,858
- 2009 10,838
- 2010 10,442
- 2011 10,055
- 2012 9,218
- 2013 8,832
- 2014 8,221
- 2015 8,007
Burnaby, Campbell River, Comox, Delta, Duncan, Kamloops are some of the other cities and towns that saw large drops in violent crime.
According to the definitions and data qualifiers section of the document: “Violent crimes include the offences of homicide, attempted murder, sexual and non-sexual assault, sexual offences against children, abduction, forcible confinement or kidnapping, firearms, robbery, criminal harassment, extortion, uttering threats, and threatening or harassing phone calls and other violent offences.”
